Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of establishing an emergency hospital helipad infrastructure contingency fund alongside the existing support provided by the Helicopter Emergency Landing Pads Appeal to secure future hospital helipad provision.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided on 11 September 2026 in response to Question HL2845, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.
The Government recognises the important role that hospital helipads can play in supporting emergency and specialist care pathways. However, it has not established, and is not currently considering, a dedicated contingency fund for hospital helipad infrastructure.
Decisions on capital investment are primarily taken by National Health Service organisations and systems, which must balance a range of competing clinical and estate priorities within available resources. Where helipad infrastructure is identified as a local priority, NHS organisations may consider how best to support these requirements, including through charitable contributions such as those provided by the HELP Appeal.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce new NHS policy to ensure that major trauma centres have safeguarded, on-site hospital helipads available 24/7 for air ambulance operations.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 16 July 2026 to Question 18083, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.
The Government recognises the important role that hospital helipads play in supporting the transfer of critically ill patients and accessing specialist services. Responsibility for the provision and management of hospital helipads rests with local National Health Service organisations, working with relevant planning, aviation, and local authority bodies.
The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Civil Aviation Authority, and other partners to consider issues relating to hospital helipad access and resilience. While there are currently no plans to mandate safeguarded 24/7 on-site helipads through national requirements, the Government will keep this position under review in light of emerging evidence and operational requirements.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the availability of 24/7 on-site hospital helipad access at major trauma centres and specialist hospitals in supporting NHS resilience and major incident preparedness.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
I refer the Noble Lord to the answer provided in the House of Commons on 16 July 2026 to Question 18083, which, for ease of reference, is reproduced below.
The Government recognises the important role that hospital helipads play in supporting the transfer of critically ill patients and accessing specialist services. Responsibility for the provision and management of hospital helipads rests with local National Health Service organisations, working with relevant planning, aviation, and local authority bodies.
The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Civil Aviation Authority, and other partners to consider issues relating to hospital helipad access and resilience. While there are currently no plans to mandate safeguarded 24/7 on-site helipads through national requirements, the Government will keep this position under review in light of emerging evidence and operational requirements.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what alternatives they evaluated when seeking to reduce the cost of the HS2 connection between Old Oak Common and Euston.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
No other alternatives to reduce the cost of the connection between Old Oak Common and Euston were identified at the time of the Government's decision to proceed with the Euston tunnel. The existing tunnelling plans are the most cost-effective approach, as Old Oak Common station's construction has been set up for this purpose.
If this decision had not been made at this time, there would have been likely cost and schedule impacts to the delivery of Old Oak Common station, and potentially to the wider HS2 programme.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government which elements of the Euston Master Plan Development will be funded by (1) the private sector, and (2) the public sector; and which department will administer any public funding.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Euston Development Masterplan is a joint Department for Transport and Network Rail project, with delivery contracted to a joint venture between Lendlease and The Crown Estate.
Public funding, administered by the Department for Transport, will support enabling works and contribute towards the costs of developing the masterplan. The majority of the project will be funded by the private sector, with the Department for Transport and Network Rail sharing in the value generated from development.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how the Euston Development Company is funded; and how much, if any, of its funding will come from the public sector.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
In April, the Euston Delivery Company (EDC) was established as the single directing mind for the Euston programme. Currently, the EDC team is operating as a business unit within the Department for Transport, with its activities funded via existing departmental arrangements. Further details on its future funding arrangements will be confirmed as the company is formally established as a public body, which is expected to take place in the Autumn.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of (1) the projected outstanding cost of HS2 as of 1 April 2026, and (2) the proportion of which allocated to the development of Euston station and the Euston approaches.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
The Government announced in May 2026, the expected cost of delivering HS2 is now in the range of £87.7 - 102.7 billion. This is expressed in a mixed price base, including the cash outturn of works to date and the costs of future work excluding inflation.
This is an initial assessment that will mature further as the work is refined into a full programme baseline. Drawing on lessons learned from previous experience, the Department is taking the time to complete the necessary work to establish a robust baseline before seeking to set budgets for Euston.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many HS2 200m train sets are now on order; and whether the train set capital expenditure is included in the projected HS2 cost or is a leasing cost to the chosen operator.
Answered by Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill - Minister of State (Department for Transport)
There are 54 x 200m trains on order with the Hitachi-Alstom Joint Venture. The capital expenditure for purchasing these trains is included in the published HS2 cost ranges.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government, for each of the last five calendar years, how many appeals have been made against magistrates' court decisions which have rejected defendants' claims of exceptional hardship in proceedings concerning drivers liable to disqualification under the totting-up provisions; and how many of those appeals were successful.
Answered by Lord Lemos - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
The Ministry of Justice publishes quarterly data on appeals against magistrates’ court decisions heard in the Crown Court in the Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly release which can be downloaded from the Criminal Court Statistics landing page here: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK. Table C11 provides details of appeals heard at the Crown Court.
However, data is not centrally recorded on the specific grounds of appeal, including whether an appeal relates to the rejection of an exceptional hardship argument in proceedings concerning drivers liable to disqualification under the totting-up provisions.
This information may be contained within individual court records. However, identifying and reviewing relevant cases would require a manual examination of those records and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question
To ask The Senior Deputy Speaker, in respect of the evacuation of the House of Lords at 15:00pm on Thursday 2 July, (1) to what extent, if any, were members and staff of the House of Commons involved, (2) to what extent was the London Fire Brigade informed and involved, and (3) how long did the evacuation take, from the time of sounding the alarm to the last person leaving the building.
Answered by Lord McLoughlin
The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. The House of Commons was fully involved in the evacuation drill. For the purposes of evacuation, the Parliamentary Estate is treated as a single zone. Accordingly, the House of Commons Chamber was also evacuated during a debate.
The London Fire Brigade was informed in advance of the exercise. Its control room was notified and remained in contact throughout the drill. The local Borough Commander and the Station Commander from Soho were also informed. A representative from the London Fire Brigade's Risk Management Team attended and observed the exercise in order to provide feedback. In addition, the Chief Inspector from the Crown Premises Fire Safety Inspectorate attended to observe the evacuation.
The evacuation took a total of 15 minutes from commencement of the exercise until all members of the public and staff, excluding security personnel and designated observers, had left the building.